The lowdown: Political VIPs, journos, and Austin's glitterati gathered at Google's Austin headquarters on September 27 to celebrate the first night of the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival. Attendees wined and dined, rubbing elbows with the Texas Trib's editor-in-chief Emily Ramshaw and CEO Evan Smith, as well Austin Mayor Steve Adler; Texas State Rep. Drew Springer; and MichaelAvenatti, lawyer for Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels.

A special appearance by San Antonio Spurs' Coyote kept things light while politicians from both sides mixed and mingled. The VIP party was just one of many politically centric activities happening across Austin this weekend.

In addition to former Secretary of State John Kerry's opening keynote address earlier that evening, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, former San Antonio Mayor JulianCastro, and senators NancyPelosi and Jeff Flake (a can't-miss after today's contentious vote on the latest Supreme Court nomination) are also scheduled to appear.